Bribery is a concept which has appeared quite frequently in the media recently, but what constitutes a Bribe and what factors can be used in determining if an individual case is actually a Bribe? The purpose of this essay is to try and answer these questions through a study in which respondents were presented with different scenarios and were asked to determine whether a Bribe had occurred and explain their reasoning. In the study, it was evident that the amount of money involved in a given case had a large impact on respondents? determination of whether a Bribe had occurred or not. The grey area that seems to exist between what is appropriate and inappropriate most likely stems from ambiguousness in Swedish law..

What is a Bribe? Sweden has a strict legal provision in how to handle crimes of corruption in comparison to the rest of the world. In spite of the strict law companies seem to have problems understanding the differences between what is legal and what is illegal. Bribery and corruption are not only counter-acted within the law but are also a frowned upon socially and morally. The common thought is that to accept a Bribe is more corrupt than to offer one.

Corruption is widespread, and exists more or less in all countries in the world. It is today high on the international political agenda as a result of globalization and is seen as a serious impediment to development. In 2011, Sweden scored 9,3 out of 10 on the Transparency International corruption index which gave the country a 4th place of 182 on the list. This refers to a rather low corruption. Although Sweden is a country with low level of corruption that does not mean that it is completely corruption-free.